Possible rabid fox nips at local man

SHALLOTTE—It was a typical day in the Birch Pond Apartment complex—neighbors were walking their dogs and talking over a cup of coffee; children were playing.

Jack Miller was walking his dog Kenny while visiting with his downstairs neighbors Jennifer and Lucas Karhs.

Lucas, 6, was playing with his dog Henry. The group gathered outside the Karhs’ back door near the patio when they first noticed an aggressive visitor.

Miller looked up and saw his small dog fighting with a fox.

“Kenny and the fox were nose to nose,” Miller said.

Miller protected his dog and scared the fox off by kicking it. The fox ran off.

“While we were watching the woods, it came around the buildings and snuck up on us from the other side,” Jennifer Karhs said. “It wasn’t afraid of us at all.”

Again Miller tried to get the fox to leave. This time he was armed with a broomstick. The fox was in the apartment building’s common area and neighbors were beginning to arrive home from work.

The fox retreated but it came back again.

According to Karhs and Miller, there were at least six people standing around including a mother and her infant who were just getting out of a car while other neighbors were walking their dogs.

Every time a dog barked the fox approached again.

The fox again attempted to sneak up on the group and then Miller and the wild animal went head-to-head. Miller swatted it with the broomstick and made contact several times. The fox did not stop.

“He was like a vicious dog that doesn’t let go or let up,” Jennifer Karhs said.

“I didn’t hold back. I hit it five or six times,” Miller said. “I hated doing it and took no pleasure in doing it but I had to protect myself and my neighbors.”

During the attack, the fox bit Miller’s pant leg. Miller smacked the broomstick across the fox’s nose and stunned it momentarily.

The fox retreated back to the woods.

In between the attempted fox attacks, Miller and Karhs called 911. A Shallotte Police officer responded, filled out an incident report and contacted animal control.

“We are not responsible for inside the city limits, unless it’s related to rabies and that sort of overrides it,” said Dennis Harpster, Brunswick County animal control officer.

This situation was deemed related to rabies so animal control took over the situation.

Animal control arrived and Harpster set a live trap.

“I walked the woods and around the apartments. I was told it was getting after the small dogs and the people about every 30 minutes,” Harpster said.

While searching, the officer received another call and had to leave.

“He wasn’t gone 10 minutes and we called him because the fox came back,” Jennifer Karhs said.
“They called me back and said the fox ran at them again,” Harpster said. “I saw it go into the woods.”

The officer killed the fox and removed it from the premises.

“It wasn’t foaming at the mouth and didn’t look like it had rabies,” Miller said.

Animal control felt certain the fox was a potential rabies threat and intervened, however, it was not sent off for testing to confirm rabies.

“It didn’t make contact with anyone and it costs $250 to test each animal, so we didn’t send it off,” Harpster said.

Miller and Karhs feel that if the fox didn’t have rabies then someone must have been feeding it.

“It wasn’t afraid of us at all,” Miller said. “If someone was feeding it, they were really creating a problem.”

“No matter how cute they are if they are a wild animal, leave it alone,” Jennifer Karhs said. “I just give a big thank you to animal control. They responded phenomenally. Even though he seemed skeptical at first, he came back and finished it to the end.”

Another thing about the situation bothered both Miller and Karhs.

“People didn’t take it serious,” they both said.

Miller and Karhs believe it is important for people to be aware of the potential threats caused by wild animals, especially when they are acting strange.

Rachel Johnsonis a staff writer at The Brunswick Beacon. Reach her at (910) 754-6890 or rjohnson@brunswickbeacon.com.